markusandginnie

Having crossed the amazing Nullabor Plains we turned off the Eyre Highway at Balladonia Roadhouse following the Parmango Rd to Esperance. Perhaps you have seen the crazy ‘bra bush’ or ‘shoe shrub’ beside the road in the middle of nowhere? Well, now we have experience undie-gate! On a lonely 4WD track in outback West Australia!

Seriously? Who comes up with these ideas? Is it an Australian thing?

Half way down this dusty, corrugated track we came upon a historic farm homestead  – Deralinya. The homestead dated back to 1890 and it had been restored in 1990.

Deralinya Homestead. Est 1890

As we travelled further south we were amazed at the transformation of the land – we had left the outback and now passed through farmland around Esperance. The setting sun silhouetting rows of conifers standing tall between the paddocks. We checked into a caravan park for a couple of nights to do some washing, stock up food supplies and do some minor adjustments to the car.

Loose rear door handle = internal dust storms 😦

We explored Esperance via bike in the afternoon. Unfortunately they are doing some major works on the foreshore so it is not looking its best at the moment, but should look fantastic next time!

We were warned that as we were approaching the Easter weekend, it would be very hard to find places to camp, especially in the National Parks. So we set off bright and early Thursday morning to try our luck. We managed to find a pretty spot on Alexander Bay, right in between the two National Parks – Cape Arid NP and Cape Le Grand NP. We sat tight here for 4 nights, fishing, walking and enjoyed some day trips into the National Parks. We were sharing our campsite with a group  from Kalgoorlie. Apparently this area is their coastal playground. We were even lucky enough to be visited by the Easter Bunny as he delivered eggs to all the campsite!

Tucked behind the beach dunes and under the tea trees – Alexander Bay

Panorama of Alexander Bay

Cape Arid and Cape Le Grand were both spectacular as the pictures show.

Duke of Orleans Bay with Archipelago Island

Long stretches of white sand beaches with clear, clean turquoise water.

Dolphin Cove with the vast with the vast white beach beyond – Thomas River, Cape Arid NP

Markus fished off the rocks Dolphin Cove at Cape Arid and caught enough fish for a couple of dinners.

Fresh from the sea 🙂

The Archipelago of the Recherche stretches all along this coastline with many little islands dotted along. These are protected wildlife havens.

Cape Barren Geese are at home in these parks.

Native plants abound in these parks.

 We left Alexander Bay on Easter Monday excited to speak to Belinda once we had phone reception: she had just arrived back in Melbourne after 3 weeks in England & Paris. It was great to catch up with her and hear some of her news. After stocking up we motored around the coastal drive of Esperance and oh my goodness – more beautiful beaches with white sand and turquoise water. This place is amazing!

West Beach, Esperance WA

11 Mile Beach, Esperance WA

We had heaps of fun crossing the legendary Nullarbor Plain. 

One of the many beautiful sunsets. This was at our first camp on the Nullarbor, just a little west of Ceduna

Our first camp fire – slow cooked beef penang curry cooked in the camp oven for dinner. Delicious 🙂

Nullarbor here we come!

Wigunda Cave, off the track near Nullarbor Roadhouse

Our first view of the Great Australian Bight near Wigunda Cave. Breathtaking.

Six degrees of separation – the couple who took this photo live in Lithgow and know very good friends of ours who used to live there!

What a view!

Lookout Number 2 of the Great Australian Bight

Mundrabilla Roadhouse, Eyre Hwy

Crash and burn Road Train

147k of straight road – the longest straight stretch in Australia – the 90 mile straight.

Fun times ahead in Esperance 🙂

Sounds so inviting doesn’t it “Twilight Cove”… I mean before the teen vampires highjacked the word?

If you look at the map of southern West Australia you can depart the Eyre Hwy at Cocklebiddy Roadhouse, head south to the coast and basically drive through Nature Reserves to arrive at several Coastal National Parks and then Esperance – sounds better than a few hundred more kilometres of very straight road right?

Cocklebiddy is top right. Head South to Twilight Cove then amble peacefully around the coast…

Checked maps, checked trip notes, asked the guy in the roadhouse (who didn’t know much about much ’round these parts), rang tourist Esperance (“What track?”), finally someone at Parks WA said “Oh we don’t check those tracks but I’ll email you some trip notes now”. She was a helpful girl and the trip notes were great except there wasn’t one for this particular track we were considering. Oh well, we are well prepared – let’s just give it a go!

What’s worse than discovering the track your on isn’t the one you should have taken? Acceptable answers include the following in our case:

1. After you have spent an hour bouncing through the bush and are tantalising close to a destination you will never reach.
2. After the nice firm track turns to very soft deep rutted sand (you remember how much I am carrying/towing right?)
3. After the track narrows so that there is now nowhere to to turn around
4. After getting bogged in the soft sand and letting down the tyres as far as you dare
5. After discovering that one of the rear tyres has actually gone flat (it’s damn hard to tell when driving in soft sand)
6. When it is nice and late in the day and you are ready to make camp and sip a Gin & Tonic rather than dig your truck out

The track to Twilight Cove starts to get sandy – looks lovely doesn’t it?

It’s a special kind of fun that only those who have tried will understand, when your tyre is flat, when it’s well buried in soft sand, when the car is in a deep rut, when you are juggling three different jacks (hydraulic bottle, tall screw jack & air bag) trying to get a 3 tonne truck high enough to safely put one of your spares on.

Excavation works with they aid of the ingenious exhaust-air jack.

I can’t say enough good things about these inflatable jacks. I got given this one years ago and it has saved my bacon a few times. Just put the hose on your exhaust pipe and up she goes (will lift 3 ton). Add this to your gear list as they are also light and fold away to not much.

The only inflatable accessory you will need while camping – except for my boat! No I am not wearing black gloves, I have been playing with the diesel exhaust. Hope it washes off eventually?

Oh did I mention that the spare I wrestled off the roof of the truck turned out to have a slow leak and was also pretty much flat… hilarious!

All fixed… except this one was flat too! Glad I have a decent air pump. It is now staying inflated 🙂

Anyway,  an hour or two later with the help of Ginnie (scurrying and fetching and soothing and taking photos) we managed to extract our selves and retreat having never seen Twilight Cove. Shame, but the Gin and Tonics were particularly appreciated as we witnessed yet another stunning outback sunset and the amazing silence of the desert.

So the man is off hunting and gathering, fishing off the rocks, and I have the urge to attend to the call of nature. Not quite so easy for us girls out in the bush even with the aid of my handy sheewee! As I am walking along the rocks trying to find a suitable spot my feet go out from under me and I end up on my back, feet in the air sliding head first down a huge water rushing crevasse!! This could be the end of all our adventures!! I summon all my strength (my pilates and body balance classes coming to the fore as I sucked in my core muscles) to halt my slide to destruction, gather my senses and what is left of my dignity, and slowly find my way to my feet. Disaster averted, I live to carry on with just a few cuts and bruises 🙂

The Advantages of Going Slow…..

Before we left I mentioned to some fellow travelers that I was planning on driving at about 80-90 kph. There were a few raised eye brows and the suggestion I would not be able to do it! It left me wondering if they just thought of me as a lead-foot (which I usually am) or if it is just too difficult to sit under the speed limit on a long haul drive? My motivation was partly about a traveling attitude of being relaxed and not in a hurry to be anywhere but, mostly, I was concerned that fuel would be our major expense on this trip. It has been interesting then to find it not-at-all-difficult to coast along somewhere between 80-90 kph! The Defender somehow seems to always find itself sitting on a lazy 88 kph.

Mate… she’s a tidy little unit don’t you think?

This strategy has had 2 wonderful results for us – so far. The first is the completely different feel that this holiday has had to any other I have taken. OK I admit we have three or four months to enjoy but still it only took a couple of days for me to realize that I had fully entered into a relaxation zone that is usually only achievable after a month off! It does something wonderful in your soul to have nowhere in particular that you need to be by a certain date. The focus is totally about the journey experience rather then the destination… although I can’t complain about any of the places we have arrived at along the way…

The Beach at Memory Cove, Lincoln NP

The second surprising success to this “go slow” strategy has been our fuel economy. With all the weight we have on the car and trailer (see my previous post about gear) and the less-than-sleek profile of my truck we are still managing between 12.5 – 14 litres per hundred kilometers. That’s about 22 mpg in old units. So my standard 60 litre tank is getting me about 400 kms – that’s better than I get running around Melbourne!

Pretty happy with that! I would loved to hear from my Toyota & Nissan buddies about what they manage when loaded up and towing?

After a great stay (3 nights) at Coffin Bay we headed out under grey skies that produced only occasional rain. The rain as we left the park was the heaviest so far!

Stumpy Tailed Lizard sculpture at entrance of Coffin Bay National Park

   Having encountered a few nocturnal issues with little mice determined to find their way into our pantry (successfully I am afraid) we stopped at the general store in Coffin Bay to purchase mouse baits and traps and also took the opportunity to have fish and chips for lunch as we had caught 20 or so whiting and flathead but all under legal size 😦

The fishing boats are pretty serious here in Coffin Bay!

Oversize fishing boats – Coffin Bay

We left town with full tummies and full water tanks for new destinations, calling in at several stunning coastal lookouts as we travelled north west on the Flinders Highway.

Rugged Coast at Cummins Memorial near Lake Hamilton

We decided to make a rare (for us) stop overnight in a caravan park (mainly to use the laundry) at the charming little town of Elliston and wandered down to the pub for a seafood dinner. Fortunately it was Thursday night as the big news was there was wedding in town on the weekend so everything was booked solid from the caravan park to the pub to the bakery! Apparently one of the 357 inhabitants of the little seaside hamlet was getting hitched!

One of the amazing headland sculptures on Waterloo Bay at Elliston.

After exploring the sculpture cliff drive we rejoined the Flinders Highway allowing our curiosity to lure us back to the coast at the Talia Caves – “A spectacular geological formation” the sign said. Amazing caves and a good spot for lunch! Markus had ‘a feeling in his waters’ that there was some fish to be had and had a go off the rocks for the first time in his life!

Stairs down to Talia Caves and the rock platform that gave us our first decent fish!

The Woolshed Cave at Talia caves

Taila Beach

YES! Three decent sized fish later (Blue Throated Wrass – thanks Owen for the ID) we drove through to the beautiful Venus Bay and then on to Streaky Bay where we restocked the pantry and found (yet again) an amazing waterfront campsite (HINT: don’t trust the maps or the tourist info centre about where you can find a great camp site; sniff around a little). Fresh fish and chilled white wine under the stars!

Camp site on the shores of Streaky Bay

After checking into Port Lincoln for Park permits & a coffee we found a great campsite in the Lincoln National Park looking west on Spalding Bay.

Camp at Spalding Bay, Lincoln NP

We launched our little boat and tried some sunset fishing but, alas, too small to keep.

Sunset, Ginnie, Gin & Tonic – a wonderful combination!

Next morning a 2-3 hour hike around the Donnington Headland…

A great view spoiled!

and after lunch drove down to the southern tip to view the wild coastline – truly breathtaking.

Heading towards Memory Cove – Lincoln NP

Markus also managed a play in the sand dunes!

Wanna sand dunes – check the video on Facebook 🙂

Gentle rain saw our first wet pack up of camp and after some “intense fellowship” (as our pastor Mark would say), we managed to wrestle the boat back onto the trailer from a very low tide beach and set off for Coffin Bay.

Airing down the tyres for the trip into Coffin Bay NP

Only 50kms across to Coffin Bay National Park accessed by a serious 4 wheel drive track, through sand dunes and narrow rutted scrubby tracks to arrive at an amazing campsite on a small beach on Coffin Bay.

Campsite view at Black Springs

A sunset fish in our boat on the glassy waters brought a huge surprise – we were surrounded by dolphins. We were so close we could hear them breathing as they surfaced! We stayed out in the boat to watch another amazing sunset. Truly magic! What an awesome Creator!

Sunset with the Dolphins 🙂

After setting up at our beautiful little spot at Narrum Ferry, we were ready to step into the on suite for a nice hot shower. Oh no! Disaster! No hot water!! Our precious little hot water heater was not working!!! How can we go on? And so we spent the next few days on some “housekeeping”, including trying to sort out our hot water. We spent 2 nights at Narrum, did some washing and investigated the hot water situation.

Wash day at Narrung Ferry Park

We moved on to Adelaide on Thursday and all was resolved. New beefy springs fitted to the truck and all that was needed to fix the hot water was a little jiggle of the connections -Ginnie’s technical description 🙂 We spent a great night with Markus’ Great Aunty Diedre and then set off towards Port Augusta.

Indian Pacific Railway near Port Pirie

We rounded the tip of Spencer’s Gulf and travelled down the western side to view some amazing rugged coastline.

Near Pt Lowly

Found a fabulous spot – we travelled to Fitzgerld Bay which was very exposed and windy, then travelled south down Freycinet Trail. We managed to tuck in right next to the pebble beach but  protected from the wind by a sandy hill. The tide came right up to 3m from our camp overnight. We slept with the sound of the water lapping. Marvellous!

Campsite at Fitzgerald Bay

Chasing crabs at Fitzgerald Bay

Too small to eat 😦

Cooking Barramundi for dinner

Set off Friday morning to see more amazing coastline then through Whyalla & Cowell and found a protected spot behind the beach dunes north of Tumby Bay. Most importantly – an internet signal so this post could be updated and Markus could mark some assignments (he is an online tutor for a couple of subjects at Harvest BC as we travel).

Stunning colours in an open cut mine near Whyalla

Coloured sand creek on the Lincoln Highway

We were awoken abruptly in the early hours of the morning by some vicious beast tearing its way through our food!! On closer examination, there were just a few tiny holes in the couscous and the culprit must have been a tiny, weeny marsupial (definitely NOT a mouse!) Note to selves, always close pantry drawer at night! After this rude awakening we gathered ourselves and enjoyed a leisurely morning then headed off to Mount Gambier and on to Markus’ cousins property just out of Beachport. We had a fabulous night with Helen and Michael, a very warm and hospitable couple. Pictured below: sunset at Dry Creek Reserve; Walking the Dry Creek Trail; Mt Gambier (Blue Lake); Beachport Pier.

After exploring some of the farm we set off along the rugged limestone coastline through Robe (where we had to buy a rock lobster!) Kingston and through Coorong National Park. We have set up camp at a magic little spot (Narrung on Lake Albert)

OK you saw the pictures of the truck and trailer so it has probably crossed your mind… “Did Markus pack enough stuff for 3 or 4 months of life on the road in our wide brown land?”

“

In answer to your question let me say “Only the essentials!” Our Odyssey camper comes complete with queen size inner spring mattress (we added a memory foam topper), gas hot water service, stainless steel kitchen, 3 burner stove, fridge/freezer, ensuite bathroom, solar panels and 2 large batteries to run everything. I installed a diesel cabin heater to keep my lady cosy on the chilly evenings. A quick scan of the extra contents reveals a second fridge (for the beer and all those fish I intend to catch), lots of food & a range of beverages to aid relaxation, dining chairs & table, reclining camp chairs, a pair of folding bicycles & helmets, snorkelling gear, lots of fishing gear, a generator, off road recovery equipment, spare parts, tools, air compressor, 2 spare wheels, maxtracks, the BBQ, a camp oven, a portable spit roaster, 2 cameras & lenses, tripod, small video camera, 12v TV & outback arial, sand flag, winch, shovel, inflatable boat, 15 HP outboard, life jackets & navigation lights, GPS gear, night vision equipment, heat beads, fire starters, chainsaw, first aid, a professional stunt kite (no I am not kidding), a compound hunting bow with arrows, 2 laptops, iPad, iPhones and a satellite phone, maps, tour books, binoculars, 2 fire extinguishers, 2 way radio kits, espresso machine & coffee grinder. 

As you can see I have packed the bare minimum in keeping with my minimalist approach to most things! Can’t really understand though why the back of my Land rover is sitting a little lower than usual? I suspect it is that portable yoghurt maker and hair dryer that Virginia brought with us.

As we drove through Warrnambool I noticed a sign saying “public weigh bridge” so I thought I would see what my rolling home-away-from-home weighed in at. The weigh bridge was located at the “The Big Cheese” (a cheese factory & tourist spot) which seemed a fitting name for me. The guys were keen to help and revealed we had a total gross weight of 4.66 tonne divided as follows: approx 3.02 tonne in the truck and 1.64 tonne in the trailer. My truck has a tare weight of 1740kg and the trailer is about 1100kg dry so that’s only 1.82 tonne of toys… I mean tools. Anyway, the guys at my Landrover Parts place were very helpful, they have a branch in Adelaide and a set of the heaviest rear springs I can get for my Defender is on it’s way to them ready for me to pick up and fit next week. Problem solved! 

Next time I reckon we will live without the hair dryer!

MARKUS